482 - A most remarkable way of celebrating the annual day of theatre 3/28/2013

By
Heidi Trautmann

Why?
Because there is nothing to celebrate in the Republic of Northern Cyprus. At
least that is the feeling of the LBT team, the theatre and orchestra company of
the Nicosia Municipality Theatre. For months they are waiting to get their
wages paid. You know, my friend, professional theatre people live from what
they do, it is their profession, they have learnt their profession and need to
earn their living; and they do their job because they have a vision, at least I
am sure they had one when they one day said, OK, this is what I want, it is my
life, I’ll try to give my best for the theatre and for my country, because for
them I go on stage, I choose this rather lonely job, because I believe in the
importance of it.

A
theatre company needs a stage, that is self-understood and it needs a theatre
house with chairs for its audience, and there is a very faithful audience
including myself in Nicosia, and we all know that we need a theatre, that
society needs a theatre, needs art and theatre, needs music and dance and
theatre.

It
was Yaşar Ersoy’s and his colleagues dream to have a proper theatre one day and
he started several times to be very close to the fulfillment of his dream. They
have outgrown the place in Yenişehir, it has served its purpose for many years,
established with the help of Mustafa Akinci former mayor of Lefkoşa, and I am
sure that everybody will think back with nostalgia one day to the good time
they had there; The first building they had made the plans for and with construction
started, was taken away from them, all the promises were forgotten and it was
given to the TED School. Now, in 2007, a new theatre project was born and the
‘relatives’ of the project, sort of taking on parentage of the project were
shaking hands and promised their protection of the young building and as the
shell stood in all its height, everything came to a stop and construction had
not been resumed since.

Precisely
here, in front of the unfinished construction of a dream, the theatre company
gathered on March 20 to make a declaration to the people of North Cyprus, and fighting
for the right and necessity of a theatre building, all its members stood like
one body behind Yaşar Ersoy who with his thundering voice of a prophet told us
about the situation they found themselves in, to us facing them, and the people at
home at the TV screen…. And the windows of the municipality building at the
back of which the construction site is and our meeting took place, and of all
houses around shook, it had something biblical and made my hair stand on end.
The essence of his apologia was: Society, democracy, education, culture are
inseparably connected with theatre and the arts. He said that in ancient times
a city was not regarded a city without theatre, school, sports stadium, place
of worship and library. If we continue to ignore these basic necessities we
have no right oftalking of humanity,
decency and love for our country.

During
the week of worldwide celebration of the theatre, the LBT Theatre and Orchestra
Company have on each day between March 20 and 30 brought theatre plays onto their
stage and stages of TV Genç and Lefkoşa Türk Lycee. On March 25 there was an
exhibition in front of the Mevlevi Tekke (Museum of the Whirling Dervishes)
showing theatre posters designed by our local artists. These posters represent
the performances put on stage over the years and many of our artists have
contributed to the colourful diversity of performances, but also the actors and
actresses themselves have tried their hand in graphic design for a meaningful
poster:

On the same occasion the theatre members have
literally taken the broom into their hands and have shown the people of Lefkoşa
and the municipality and their workers that they care for their city, for a
clean city. In my eyes it shows that the LBT Theatre is deeply involved in all
the issues of society, takes up its problems and reflects them back for the
people to recognize like in a mirror the good deeds and evil deeds, magnified.

Theatre,
Yaşar said, theatre is a public school and in this school people are given
knowledge and education.